PASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE
AMENDMENT BILL 2008

The purpose of this
Bill is to amend the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 to
increase the rate of the Passenger Movement Charge (the Charge) by
$9, to $47, with effect from 1 July 2008.

The increase,
announced by the Treasurer in the 2008-09 Budget, will partially
fund national aviation security initiatives that are funded by the
Australian Government.

Since 2001, the
Australian Government has spent approximately $1.2 billion
implementing a significant number of national aviation security
measures. Up until the 2011-2012 financial year, spending on
national aviation security measures is expected to exceed $2.2
billion. Currently these costs are not recovered as part of
the Charge.

The $9 increase, as
recommended by the central economic agencies and accepted by the
Government, is consistent with the amount by which the Charge would
have increased had the Charge been indexed over the period since it
was last increased on 1 July 2001.

Certain departures of persons
from Australia on or after 1 July 2008 will be exempt from the
increase in the rate of the Charge. These are departures that
are made by a person using a ticket or equivalent authority where
the ticket or authority was sold or issued before 1 July
2008.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
STATEMENT

The increase of the existing $38
Charge to $47 is expected to result in an increase in revenue of
$459.3 million over four years.

PASSENGER
MOVEMENT CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2008

NOTES ON CLAUSES

Clause 1 - Short
title

This clause provides for the
Bill, when enacted, to be cited as the Passenger Movement Charge
Amendment Act 2008 .

Clause 2 -
Commencement

This clause provides for the
Bill to commence on 1 July 2008.

Clause 3 -
Schedules

This clause is the formal
enabling provision for the Schedule to the Bill, providing that
each Act specified in a Schedule is amended in accordance with the
applicable items of the Schedule. In this Bill the Act being
amended is the Passenger Movement Charge Act
1978 .

The clause also provides that
the other items of the Schedules have effect according to their
terms. This is a standard enabling clause for transitional,
savings and application items in amending legislation. In
this Bill there is an application provision in item 2 of Schedule
1.

Schedule 1 -
Amendment

Item 1 - Section
6

This item amends section 6 of
the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 (the Act) to increase
the rate of the charge imposed by the Act from $38 to
$47.

Item 2 -
Application

This item provides that the
amendment of the Act made by this Bill applies to the departure of
a person from Australia on or after 1 July 2008, unless the person
departs using a ticket or equivalent authority and the ticket or
authority was sold or issued before 1 July 2008.

Currently, for departures from
Australia on commercial and charter airlines and passenger ships,
the Charge is collected entirely under arrangements made under
section 10 of the Passenger Movement Charge Collection Act
1978 . Airlines and shipping companies periodically remit
to the Commonwealth an amount equal to the Charge payable by
departing passengers (which is payable at the rate in force on the
date of departure). Where this amount is paid, the departing
passenger is deemed to have paid the Charge. In accordance
with these arrangements, an amount equal to the Charge may be
collected from a passenger up to twelve months prior to their
departure.

By the time the Bill receives
the Royal Assent, airlines will have already sold several hundred
thousand tickets for departures on or after 1 July 2008 and will
have collected only the current amount of the Charge from
passengers ie, $38.

The application clause will
ensure that the increase in the Charge will not apply to a
departure of a person from Australia on or after 1 July 2008 where
the person departs using a ticket or an equivalent authority and
the ticket or authority was sold or issued before
1 July 2008. Therefore, airlines will only be
required to remit $38 to the Commonwealth in respect of each such
departure.